“WELCOME TO OUR SCHOOL’S FIRST TOURNAMENT OF THE FITTEST!!!”

The crowd went wild as the remaining contestants waited in the side classroom of the gym. Surprisingly, the atmosphere felt amazing but it also felt terrifying. Knowing that our matches would be broadcasted onto the nearby students made my heart jump. I don’t know half of these students and yet they cheer on our battle.

“Alright, everybody quiet down.” Aubrey twirled around the room as jittery students focused their attention onto her. “First up we have.. Angel versus Woozi. Good luck to the both of you!” Aubrey helped them set up by the door as they were introduced to the audience. As she opened the door, a loud echo of the audience cheering filled the room. For a minute, I thought it was DK seeking out his revenge.

The guy, who I assume is Angel, and Woozi both made their way out onto the gym floor and the door closed. For a second, the audience went completely silent. It made me wonder if I was just nervous and tuned them out or if they actually stopped cheering. After that second of confusing silence, the audience roared with applause and screamed Angel’s name. They both walked back in, Woozi looked saddened but he wasn’t throwing a fit so that’s reassuring. Angel looked proud, as a victor should look. Was there match only a second long?

“Who do we have next?” Aubrey flipped through a notepad until she found the correct page. “This is so stressful—Wonwoo versus Hoshi! Yes, you’re up!”

The crowd went wild as we entered the gym. All around, students called out Hoshi’s name like he was a celebrity. A lot of the students weren’t sure who I was but cheered me on anyways. In the back of the gym, a group of students held up a sign that read ‘HOW FAST CAN HE DO IT?’ whatever that meant.

I stopped at my place as Hoshi continued walking to the opposite side of the gym. When he was in place, Professor Suarez read us the rules and said we could begin. I looked towards Hoshi’s general vicinity to see him missing. The audience screamed and hollered as Hoshi ran past me and slammed his fists directly into my face. Of course there was no pain, but my vision went blurry and I fell onto my . Quickly, I regained my ability to see and stood up, looking for the speedster.

“Over here.” Hoshi’s voice came from behind me and I turned around to watch him punch me in the stomach. As I reached for my stomach, he ran around behind me and struck me in the back. I fell onto the ground and panted heavily.

“DID HE DO IT? DID HE BEAT HIS RECORD?” The announcer helped cheer on the audience.

 “Since you’re a part of squad, I’ll go easy on you. Alright?” Hoshi munched on a candy bar. I guess waiting for him to starve wasn’t going to work.

“Don’t underestimate me.” I clenched my stomach and stood up with a smirk on my face. Hoshi didn’t like that and kicked my chin, sending me flying backwards.

“Then get up and fight me.” Hoshi’s speed surpassed my vision as a vortex wrapped around me. The oxygen all around became increasingly low and I started floating upwards. It reminded me of when the rock ghost picked me up in his gravity thingy, only I wasn’t going to pass out from nothing this time. This time, it would be from lack of oxygen.

Like Hoshi suggested, I decided to fight back.

Instead of a rain forest like the one I fought DK in; I thought it would be more efficient to summon a labyrinth of cacti. As soon as the first cactus sprouted on the bottom of the vortex that surrounded me, the vortex depleted and sent Hoshi flying onto the opposite side of the gym. As he landed, a few cacti flew up into the air. The impact of his land must’ve caused a crater to form into the ground. The audience silenced as they waited for a sign of Hoshi being awake or not. While waiting for the audience to determine if I won or not, I reclaimed my balance and stretched my neck.

When Principal Nguyen sent the letters that told us about our opponent’s restrictions and capabilities, I had underestimated his speed by a bit. I knew he was fast, considering he had bought lunch, brought the lunch back to the table and then set the table, all in under two seconds. For some reason, I thought a fight would be different, like maybe he would slow down enough for me to maybe hit him. Boy was I wrong. So far, he has hit me so many times.

Luckily, the labyrinth of cacti should stop his super speed. Sadly, it won’t stop him from hitting me at extreme speeds, or evading my moves.

“Nice one, Wonwoo. I’ll admit: It was a smart move to make the field into a maze of cactuses.” Hoshi spoke from his side of the gym and the crowd went wild. “Cactuses won’t stop me though!”

Suddenly, a bright haired Hoshi ran up the bleachers, onto the walls and stood upside down on the ceiling. His feet vibrated and I assume that’s how he stayed suspended from the ceiling. As he vibrated, needles from his impact with the cacti shook off.

“IT’S CACTI NOT CACTUSES!” I jumped out of the way as he struck down from the ceiling like a lightning bolt. The impact of his high speed landing formed a crater in the ground accompanied by a cloud of dust. The area in which I had jumped to was the borderline of the crater. Any closer and I would have ended up like one of the broken cacti.

“Cactuses, cacti, sharp green things that grow out of the ground. I see no difference.” Hoshi dusted his shoulders off.

“How about I show you the difference?” I thought about sharp green things that grow out of the ground and rose vines entangled Hoshi’s feet. His running shoes were caught on the thorns of the vines making him unable to move. “Those are sharp green things.”

“Clever,” He laughed as his feet began vibrating. Instead of the thorns detaching like the needles did, his feet walked through them as if he were a ghost. “But not clever enough.” He ran at me and punched me into a cactus.

I felt no pain, but I knew my body wasn’t going to be able to take any more abuse. Before I could try freeing myself from the cactus’s needles, Hoshi ran up to me and speed punched my stomach. It’s a good thing we haven’t eaten lunch yet or he would have a face full of puke. The situation I was in reminded me of when Aubrey placed us into the spider’s web and I thought the best way to escape was a thorn for a fingernail. Mingyu, however, gave me the best idea for the situation. Sorry, Hoshi. This is going to damage you more than it will damage me.

“What the?” Hoshi was astounded by the sight of his fist stuck on my spiny body.

“Give me a hug, buddy.” The cactus behind me freed me from its tight grip allowing me to give Hoshi a bear hug. Just before I could do any real damage, he vibrated through me. Don’t get me wrong, I still got him. His entire front of his body was covered in puncture wounds, just smaller than bullet holes.

Hoshi quickly devoured an energy bar, dropped the wrapper and began moving his arms in a circular motion. Strong wings began blowing in my direction, dragging me backwards. I couldn’t implant my thorns into the ground and the wind lifted me off me feet and slammed me into the gym wall. This time, my thorns were stuck in something I couldn’t control.

“Finish him! Finish him! Finish him!” the crowd cheered as Hoshi walked slowly towards my direction. My eyes starting feeling heavy and I felt my consciousness fading.

“Help.. me..” I managed to whisper before my throat lost all hydration. With what little strength I had left, I managed to keep my eyes from closing any further. My skin felt withered and my throat was on fire.

Cacti, all around the gym, grew eyes that opened creepily. A few with arms moved them as if they hadn’t been oiled in a few years. Some opened their mouths and released roars while others began hopping out of the ground. One very helpful cactus hopped over to me and poured some liquid down my throat with its broken arm. As disgusting as it sounds, it actually tasted amazing and I felt refreshed.. slightly. I finally had enough energy to remove the spikes that lay rest on my body, freeing me from the gym wall.

Hoshi was having a rather difficult time fending off the cacti army. At first, any that approached would get karate chopped into slices of cactus. As more and more hoarded around him, his karate chopping would only do so much and he had to vibrate out of the mob. As fast as he was, he only had so much energy. Even Hoshi has his limits. Just as he escaped from the horde of cacti, he crouched on the floor and smirked at me with one eye opened.

“Good match, Wonwoo.” Hoshi fell to the ground and a siren wailed. The audience was silent as their idol lay motionless on the ground.

I commanded my cacti army to stay back, making sure they wouldn’t kill him.

Suddenly, claps and cheers roared from the audience and I blinked back to our starting positions. Hoshi started walking towards me with a fake smile on his face. The crowd went wild as they screamed my name. The feeling of the audience cheering me on felt amazing. As Hoshi approached me, he extended his hand. I took it and we walked back to the room holding the contestants.

“Why can’t these matches be longer?” Aubrey panicked as she flipped through her unorganized sketch pad. “Seungkwan you’re up against...” Her voice was cut off by Hoshi.

“I’m not mad, in case you were wondering.” Hoshi’s smile looked more genuine than it did when he was walking towards me once he lost. “That was fun. I hope we can spar some other time, even when there isn’t a competition.” Hoshi went to talk to Megan, who looked incredibly peeved off.

“Jeon Wonwoo, may I speak with you?” Principal Nguyen popped out of nowhere. I walked over to her and she looked at my hands. “Where is the ring I gave you?”

“Oh, that pretty green ring? Vernon saw it and he just had to have it so I let him keep it. Hope you don’t mind.” I lied. Her eyes widened and sweat ran down her face.

“It’s fine.” She put on a fake smile. “Ah, looks like your next opponent just finished his match.” She gestured to Seungkwan who just walked in from a match. He wiped off a bead of sweat and smiled happily.

QUESTIONS:

Did you enjoy the battle between Hoshi and Wonwoo?

What is Principal Nguyen hiding about this mysterious ring she gifted Wonwoo?

Who will win: Wonwoo or Seungkwan?